T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $1.92 Billion Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,912,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 449,631 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.12% of Meta Platforms worth $1,922,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $577.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $621.98 and its 200-day moving average is $634.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure by signing new computing deals with Crusoe, which should help support its long-term AI buildout and capacity needs. Reuters: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to strengthen its AI-led growth narrative through data center expansion in India and new creator-focused AI tools on Facebook, both of which could improve engagement and future monetization. Insider Monkey: Meta rolls out new AI features on Facebook for content creators
• Positive Sentiment: Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, and Meta is adding new community and feed features, reinforcing the company’s platform growth beyond Facebook and Instagram. Yahoo Finance: Meta reaches 500 million Threads users
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s COO Javier Olivan disclosed another pre-planned stock sale, which is notable but not necessarily a fundamental signal since it was executed under a 10b5-1 plan. InsiderTrades: Meta COO sells stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s dividend and long-term shareholder-return profile are supportive, but this is unlikely to be the main short-term stock driver. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Meta is lobbying Congress for legal protection from child-harm lawsuits, keeping regulatory and litigation risk in focus for investors. Reuters: Meta lobbies Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns around AI execution also weighed on sentiment after Reuters said a key executive overseeing Meta’s “AI for work” transformation is leaving the company. Reuters: Meta head of product for AI for work transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Meta was also hit by reports that attackers exploited its AI customer support chatbot to compromise Instagram accounts, raising trust and security concerns around its AI tools. Yahoo Finance: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,707,600. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 40,568 shares of company stock worth $25,057,365 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.